Vertical suspension door



June 1941- F. A. SCHILLING, JR 2,244,405

VERTICAL SUSPENSION DOOR Filed Dec. 21, 1939 s Sheets-Sheet 1 nvwsurak. fkspsglck l7 :icu/u/uq Jaw.

ATTORNfY.

Filed Dec. 21, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 3, 1941 VERTICAL SUSPENSION noon Frederick A. Schilling, Jr., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Application December 21,1939, Serial No. 310,437

6 Claims.

'My invention relates to improvements in vertical suspension doors which are particularly adapted for aircraft hangars and the like.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide a structure which is relatively light, so as to impose a minimum load on the front roof truss and enable such truss to be a lighter and cheaper structural member than those normally required; to provide a door having a vertical lift for a predetermined distance and a lifting and tilting movement beyond said distance; to provide a door which will assume a substantially horizontal position when fully open and which will be approximately balanced upon its pivots when full open. Further objects are to provide an easy load take up of the motor operating the door and also to provide means for breaking any ice binding the foot of the door to the door sill during winter time.

The invention. consists of a tilting cradle on which a door is slidably mounted and an operating device for raising the door upon the cradle and swinging said door'to open or horizontal position, as will be more fully described in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a half elevational view of the outside of the door.

Fig. 2 is a half elevational view of the inside of the door.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the truss to which the door is hung, the door being shown in closed or normal position.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View showing the door raised and swung into full open or horizontal position.

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the cradle latching means at the point of lifting incidental to the final vertical lift of the door.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the cradle latching means.

Fig. '7 is a sectional view of the door and cradle showing the door counterweight.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

The numeral indicates a hangar door open ing, and 2 the truss above it. A roof truss 3 is erected at a distance from the opening I which serves to support longitudinal I-beams 4. The I-beams 4 are supported at their forward ends by any suitable means, not shown, and are fitted with pivots 5. Upon each pair of pivots 5 a cradle generally indicated by the numeral 6 is rockingly mounted.

The cradle 6 consists of spaced beams I which normally extend both above and below the opening 2 and are suitably cross connected by one or more transverse members 8. Pairs of guide rollers 9 are mounted upon each of the beams T which engage the rear flanges ID of vertical rails H. The rails H form stiffening members for and are integral with a hangar door which is generally indicated by the numeral M.

The door M is of sheet metal construction preferably and is provided with glazed panels I5 as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The bottom edge of the door is provided with a suitable weather strip l6 capable of being flexed to break'contact with ice which may form between the bottom of the door and the hangar fioor. At the upper extremity of each vertical rail H a track roller I8 is mounted and below said roller an overhanging latch lift I9 is provided. the purpose of which will hereinafter appear. Suitably supported longitudinally of the building are quadri elliptical tracks 22, one pair to each door hung in the opening. The tracks 22 each consist of a channel section with inner and outer peripheral webs 23 and 24. The webs 23 and 2% at the upper extremity of each track are downwardly turned to define an entrance 25, see Figures 3 and 5, for the track roller l8 as the door is raised to the full extent of its vertical movement.

Mounted at the upper side extremities of the cradle 6 are cable sheaves 21 over which hoisting pairs of cables 28 leading from a suitable winding motor 29' are passed, the free ends of each pair of cables 28 is attached to a side of the door ll indirectly to a compensating device generally indicated by the numeral 30. The compensating device 30, see Figure 2, consists of an apertured bracket 3| secured to the inner side of the door through which a rod 32 slidably extends. The rod 32 is provided with an adjustable abutment 33 and a compression spring 36 between the abutment and the apertured bracket 3|. The object of the compensating device is to cushion the stopping of the door when being lowered to the point of closure and to ease the strain on the winding motor 29 on starting by allowing the spring 34 to compress before the full weight of the door is imposed upon the cables 28. Connected with the lower extremity of the rod 32 is a cable 35 which is secured to the outer end of a lever 36. The lever 38 is pivotally connected to the base of the door as at 31 and is provided at its inner end with a castor wheel 38 which forms contact with the sill of the door when said door is in closed position. The lever 36 is of such lever arm dimensionsthat a relatively light pull on the cable 35 will suflice to raise the door until its weather strip [6 is clear of the door sill, so that in case the weather strip is frozen to the sill a few inches of upward travel of the cable 35 and the hoisting cables 28 will break the ice adhesion and lift the weather strip l6 and the door clear of the ground. It will be obvious that the initial lift of the cables 28 through the springs 34 and the lever 36 will be translated into a slower but elastic lift of the door I 4.

Mounted upon the inner face of the truss 2 is a latch generally indicated by the numeral 40, see details in Figures and 6, which consists of a bracket 4| hingedly supporting a downwardly turned latch arm 42 which is forked at its free end to support two freely rotatable rollers 43 and 44 respectively. The latch arnr 42 is provided with an upstanding stop 45 which is adapted to engage a hook lug 46 when the arm is in its lowermost position and which is urged forwardly by a spring 41 to lower the arm towards its lowermost position. The roller 44 is adapted to be engaged by the latch lift [9 when the door I4 is approaching its ultimate vertical lift to lift the latch arm 42. The roller 43 normally engages a plate 49 secured to the upper extremity of the cradle member 1 to prevent the pull of the cable 28 from tilting the cradle 6 from its vertical position. As the door reaches its extreme vertical lift each track roller l8 passes through the entrance 25 of its track rail 22 and the latch arm roller 43 is lifted clear of the plate 49 so that the cradle 6 is freed to rock about its pivots 5.

The winding motor circuit, not shown, will obviously be provided with suitable limit switches 50 and 5|. The switch 50, which is preferably disposed adjacent the chord of the truss 2, would be opened as the top edge of the door l4 reaches its lowermost position, and the switch 5|, which would preferably be placed at the lower end of a track rail 22, would be opened as the door assumes its full open or substantially horizontal position.

A counterweight 54 which is in the form of a horizontal member extends between the beams 7 and is slidably connected thereto by guides 55, see Figure 7. The counterweight is attached to spaced endless chains 56 which pass over sprockets 51 and 5B. The sprockets 51 are fitted to a transverse shaft 59 journalled at the upper extremity of the beams 1, and the sprockets 58 are fitted to a shaft 60 which is journalled from the beams below the pivot 5. A shaft Bl is also journalled between the beams l at a point below the vertical centre of the door when said door is in closed position. Two sprockets 64 are secured to the shaft 59 and complementary sprockets 65 are fitted upon the shaft 6|. Endless chains 66 extend around the sprockets 64 and 65 and are connected to the door M. The gear ratiobetween the sprockets 64 and 51 is such that the counterweight 54 will descend from its uppermost position to the line of the pivot pins 5 as the door is raised to its upper vertical position and will move somewhat forward of the pivot pins during the opening tilting movement, the final movement being along a slightly curved or substantially horizontal path. When the door and its cradle are in their horizontal position their combined centre of gravity will be substantially aligned with the pivot pins 5.

When the winding motor 29 is set in motion to open the door, the initial pull of the cables 28 will through the castor levers 36 pry the door loose from ice contact, if any, and lift it clear of the floor, the lift at this moment being slower than the travel of the cables. As soon as the door is clear, it will be raised at cable speed until it reaches its uppermost vertical position with its track rollers I8 in contact with the flange 24 of the track 22. On reaching this point, the latch 40 will be raised out of contact with the end of the beam 1, so that the pull of the cables 28 will tilt the cradle 6 and the door carried thereby. As the cradle tilts towards the horizontal position the track rollers I 8, then riding on the lower flange 23 of the track 22, will cause the door to continue to slide inwardly along the cradle with the head of the door moving beyond the upper ends of the beams 7 until the vertical centre of the door is lying directly over the pivots 5. When the door assumes its full open position the limit switch 5| is struck and opened, allowing the winding motor to come to rest and leave the door in a balanced position with its centre of gravity substantially under the truss 2 from which it is mainly carried.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A door for hangers and the like comprising an unbroken vertical panel door, a cradle pivoted upon a horizontal axis, a pair of curved tracks lying in vertical planes at right angles to the plane of the door, the upper portion of said tracks being spaced above the upper end of the cradle when said door is in closed position and the lower part of said tracks being substantially level with the upper edge of the closed door, said door being slidably mounted upon the cradle and having track rollers adjacent its upper end, a sheave adjacent the upper end of the cradle, a cable passing over said sheave for raising the door to dispose the track rollers in the track and for tilting the cradle and the door about the horizontal axis, said tracks serving to control the movement of the door beyond the upper end of the cradle and transversely thereof cradle during its tilting movement.

2. A door for hangers and the like comprising an unbroken vertical panel door, a cradle pivoted upon a horizontal axis, a pair of curved tracks lying in vertical planes at right angles to the plane of the door, the upper portion of said tracks being spaced above the upper end of the cradle when said door is in closed position and the lower part of said tracks being substantially level with the upper edge of the closed door, said door being slidably mounted upon the cradle and having track rollers adjacent its upper end, means for holding the cradle in vertical position when the door is in closed position, a sheave adjacent the upper end of the cradle, a cable passing over said sheave for raising the door vertically to dispose the track rollers within the tracks said cable serving to tilt the cradle and the door subsequent to the entrance of said rollers into said tracks.

3. A door for hangers and the like comprising an unbroken vertical panel door, a cradle pivoted upon a horizontal axis, a pair of curved tracks lying in vertical planes at right angles to the plane of the door, the upper portion of said tracks being spaced above the upper end of the door vertically the distance of the interspace between said door and the upper end of said tracks, a latch arm for maintaining the cradle in vertical position until the rollers enter the tracks, means on the door for releasing the latch arm as the door is raised to a predetermined position, a sheave upon the cradle, a cable passing over said sheave and attached to the door for raising the door to dispose the track rollers within the tracks said cable serving to tilt and the cradle and the door subsequent to the releasing of the latch arm.

4. A door for hangers and the like comprising an unbroken vertical panel door, a cradle pivoted upon a horizontal axis, said door being mounted upon the cradle for sliding movement thereacross, cable means for raising the door vertically for the first portion of its opening movement and for subsequently tilting the cradle and the door, and a counterweight for the door, said counterweight being slidably mounted upon the cradle, said counterweight serving to counterweight the door only during the vertical movement of said door and to counterweight the door and the cradle during the tilting movement of the door and the cradle.

5. A door for hangers and the like comprising an unbroken vertical panel door, a cradle pivoted upon a horizontal axis, said door being mounted upon the cradle for sliding movement thereacross, and beyond the upper end of the cradle means for raising the door vertically for the first portion of its opening movement and for subsequently tilting the cradle and the door, and a counterweight for the door, said counterweight being slidably mounted upon the cradle, said counterweight serving to counterweight the door only during the vertical movement of said door and to counterweight the door and cradle during the tilting movement of the door and the cradle, said counterweight having movement counter to the door also during the doors movement beyond the upper end of the cradle.

6. A door for hangers and the like comprising a single vertical panel door of substantially the height of the door opening, cable means for raising the door vertically for a substantial portion of its height and for subsequently tilting the door to a substantially horizontal position to dispose said door when fully opened with substantially one half of said door within the opening and the remaining portion projecting outwardly beyond said opening.

FREDERICK A. SCHILLING, JR. 

